School of Medicine

The ability of brain cells to take in substances from their surface is essential to the production of a key ingredient in Alzheimer’s brain plaques, researchers found.

Photo by Tim ParkerMedical and occupational therapy students held a “senior prom” April 12 to facilitate social interactions between the school and the older adult community.

By adding a simple step to an operative procedure, heart surgeons found a significant improvement in the outcome for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

The Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences will mark two milestones May 1-2: its 35th anniversary and graduating its 1,000th student.

School of Medicine research could lead to the prevention up to one-fifth of birth defects in humans caused by genetic mutations.

School of Medicine scientists have used a drug to prevent the brain abnormalities that lead to seizures in mice with an inherited form of epilepsy.

The influence of genetics increases as young women transition from their first drink to alcohol dependence. A team of researchers at the School of Medicine found that although environment is most influential in determining when drinking begins, genes play a larger role in advancing to problem drinking and alcohol dependence.

About 40 percent of African-Americans have a genetic variant that can protect them after heart failure and prolong their lives, according to research conducted at the School of Medicine and collaborating institutions. The genetic variant has an effect that resembles that of beta blockers, drugs widely prescribed for heart failure. The new study offers a reason why beta blockers don’t appear to benefit some African-Americans.

The estimated 19 million Americans living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) face a high risk of death from cardiovascular disease, usually related to high levels of blood phosphate. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have demonstrated that high blood phosphate directly stimulates calcification of blood vessels and that phosphate-binding drugs can decrease vascular calcification.

The School of Medicine and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) have announced a research collaboration that aims to develop new and improved ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The major focus of the alliance will be biomarkers, characteristic changes in the brain and spinal fluid that physicians can use to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and track its response to treatment.